One Last Save
by apAidan
Summary: Being a keeper is more of a mindset than it is a job, as Oliver Wood showed during his life. His final save came in his last game for England.  Written for thecompletebookworm's 'In Memoriam' challenge.  The prompt was 'waterfall'


**One Last Save  
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><p><em>AN – The usual disclaimers all apply. Everything recognizable, with the exception of the story at the end, belongs to JK Rowling and her corporate minions, I mean partners. I'm not certain who originally told the story at the end, the first time I heard it, though, it was Babe Ruth's ghost who answered the question._

_St. Nectan's Kieve is a very scenic waterfall in Cornwall that's been revered as a sacred site for centuries. All sorts come there and create makeshift memorials and shrines in memory of those they've lost. It's well worth the trip_

_This was written for thecompletebookworm's "In Memoriam" Challenge. The prompt was 'waterfall'  
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><p><strong>Chapter One – Starting On Sunday<strong>

_Sunrise, 23 August 2026 – St. Nectan's Kieve near Tintagel Cornwall_

The late summer sunshine was just beginning to filter through the trees surrounding the waterfall as it made its way down to splash merrily into the pool below, as it had for thousands of years. As the sunlight brightened, a quiet pair of 'pops' and a pair of young women appeared, as if by magic.

The pair, one blonde one a redhead, looked around for a moment before the redhead pulled a slender stick from the sleeve of her jumper and waved it in a peculiar pattern.

"Are you certain this is the spot, Gabi?"

Smiling sadly, Gabrielle Delacour looked around before turning her attention back to her companion.

"Oui, Gin. Ollie loved this place." Shaking her head, Gabby looked around at the makeshift altars that various people had left at the ancient site. "I remember he brought me here on my first trip to England. My first start as a chaser, and I'm going against Ollie …"

"Welcome to the club," Ginny replied, her eyes getting a bit misty as she remembered her first start for the Harpies. "I think that the League office hired a seer so that every chaser's debut was against Puddlemere."

"It wasn't just that." Drifting off, Gabi walked closer to the edge and closed her eyes. Smiling as the fine mist from the waterfall collected on her face, she took a deep breath and sighed. "We were here for a couple of days, exhibition games."

"I'm not certain why the League does that. We spent five days in bloody Latvia last year. In October no less."

"Ollie remembered me from the Tournament, and when those papers came out …"

Comprehension dawning, Ginny rolled her eyes. "I remember that, your first game here in Britain was the week that they announced their engagement." Seeing the blush on Gabi's cheeks, Ginny laid a gentle hand on her arm. "I'd have thought a Veela would have known."

"There is 'knowing' and then there is knowing," the blonde replied with a very Gallic shrug of her shoulders and a bitter chuckle. "I was young, I could 'see' the connection between those two, but being dragged across puberty's threshold in the arms of Harree Potter makes one think she is invincible." Smiling sadly, Gabi looked at her companion and nodded at the sympathetic look she could see in the older witch's eyes.

"You know that as well as I do."

"True." Pausing for a moment, Ginny started snickering, causing Gabi to look at her curiously.

"Remember what Ollie called us that time we met Hermione for drinks at the Cauldron?"

Starting to blush, Gabi began laughing at the memory. "There we were, all trying to make small talk when Ollie comes in and announces to the bar that there's a meeting of the 'Girls Who Harry Potter Save From a Messy Death or Worse' Club going on at table three. I thought Hermione was going to hex him for a moment."

Seeing that they had reached the ledge nearest the falls, Ginny reached into the pocket of her slicker, pulling out a snitch and a rolled up piece of paper. Unrolling the paper, her breath caught in her chest as she saw the smiling face of Oliver Wood looking back at her.

"Do you want to do this?" Seeing the distressed look on the younger witch's face, Ginny handed her the snitch, whose wings were fluttering fitfully, before she took her wand and tapped both the paper and the snitch twice. Taking a deep breath, she began to recite.

"From the August 17th edition of the Quibbler, written by Luna Lovegood-Black.

"Oliver 'Ollie' Alexander Wood, born 7 July 1976 in Rye died 14 August 2026 outside Saint-Dizier in France.

"Oliver Wood was born the youngest of three children to Alexander and Natasha Wood in the town of Rye. He was homeschooled with his two sisters, twins Alexa and Tatiana.

"Oliver Wood attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Scotland from 1987 to 1994, a member of Gryffindor House during his time at Hogwarts, member of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team from 1988 and Captain of the team from 1990.

"After leaving Hogwarts, Oliver was picked up as a reserve player for Puddlemere United for the 1994-95 season, winning a spot on the starting rotation for the 1998 season.

"During the 'Second Blood War' (see page 27 for a timeline of the Second Blood War), Oliver worked with various resistance groups and was a participant in the Battle of Hogwarts (see page 36 for a list of participants in the Battle of Hogwarts). For his efforts during the war, he was awarded an Order of Merlin, Second Class by then Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"Oliver's entire professional quidditch career was at Puddlemere, where he anchored the team to seven outright league championships and ties with Holyhead for three others. He also was a member of the English National Team from 2006 forward, with England winning the World Cup three times, including the current 2026 season.

"The Word Cup Finals on 12 August was supposed to be Oliver's swan song, he announced his retirement from professional quidditch the week before, stating that he would be replacing longtime Hogwarts instructor Madam Rolanda Hooch for the upcoming school year.

"During the 47th hour of the game, with England holding a commanding lead of 480 to 0 over France, Oliver selflessly ignored the incoming quaffle from French Chaser Gabrielle Delacour, having seen a flash of green light in the stands. With the same fearless ability he had used intercepting quaffles during the game; he placed himself between the French Chaser and the incoming Unforgivable fired by an assassin hired by a political opponent of her father, Minister Henri Delacour, Head of state for the French Magical Republic. Mademoiselle Delacour was uninjured as the assassin was disarmed and subdued by a trio of English fans.

"Oliver is survived by his wife Sally-Anne Wood, nee Perks, their three children Claire, Abigail, and Fred, his parents, Alexander Wood and Natasha Wood nee Rubenstein, sister Alexa Chamberlain and her husband Maxwell, and sister Tatiana Gregory, her husband Irving and their children Oliver and Harold. The Wood family made their home outside the village of Minions in Bodmin Moor, where he was laid to rest in a private ceremony on 15 August in the village cemetery.

"During the ceremony at the graveside, Sally-Anne was presented Oliver's posthumous awards, another Order of Merlin, Second Class from Minister of Magic Hermione Potter and the Legion of Merit for the French Magical Republic, awarded by Henri Delacour, Minister of Magic for the Magical French Republic."

Pausing for a moment, Ginny nodded to Gabriel and as she tapped the parchment with her wand, Gabby tossed the snitch into the falls. A gentle silver glow surrounded both, and the snitch began to hover in the water, and a plaque appeared beside the spot, sporting the text that Ginny had just read, with Oliver's picture smiling at them both.

Stepping back, Gabby placed her hand on Ginny's arm and closed her eyes. "I still can't believe …"

Wrapping her arms around the younger witch, Ginny held her as she began to cry. "That was Ollie. If you listened to him in the locker room, you'd think he didn't do anything except live and breathe quidditch, but he always knew what was going on around him."

Sniffling, Gabby looked up and smiled at the memorial they had created. "Will you come with me to the house?" Seeing Ginny's nod, she smiled in relief. "I thought I'd stop by and see if his wife needed anything."

"Sally-Anne's very quiet, but she's a survivor. She had to leave Hogwarts after the year your sister was there, she finished up her education at St. George's School in London."

Seeing the curious look on Gabby's face, Ginny grimaced as she thought back to that year. "She'd been warned about Umbridge and since she was muggleborn, she thought it would be better if she was at St. George's, though she and her family went into hiding in France after the Death Eaters took over. I think that's how she met Ollie."

As the two walked back up the path, Gabby turned her head for a moment and then started to ask a question, but stopped herself. Seeing that, out of the corner of her eye, Ginny chuckled as the sounds of the falls receded behind them.

"You want to know why the funeral was so quick?"

Blushing a bit, Gabby nodded. "Yes, Papa was a bit puzzled, usually these things take a few days to plan, but Oliver was buried the next day, on Saturday." Shrugging, she sighed. "He kept about a dozen clerks and others up all night getting all of the forms routed through to present Sally-Anne with the Legion of Merit so quickly."

Chuckling, Ginny rolled her eyes. I take it Ollie never told you that hoary old joke he used to tell the morning of a game in the locker room?" Seeing Gabby shake her head, Ginny sighed.

"When he was at Hogwarts and was Team Captain, Ollie had this really dreadful 'pep talk' before the game for the team that they all knew by heart. Knowing that everyone hated it, he found something different to use once he became captain for Puddlemere."

Taking a deep breath, she blew it out and chuckled. "For the first game of the season, or any playoff or World Cup game, he'd pick someone at random and mention the fact that he'd been back to Hogwarts recently and talked to Moaning Myrtle."

Seeing the blank look on Gabby's face, Ginny quickly explained about the melancholy ghost who inhabited one of the witch's lavatories at the school.

"He'd then say he asked Myrtle if they played Quidditch in Heaven. When someone asked what she said, he always replied that Myrtle told him that she had good news and bad news about quidditch."

Smiling wistfully as she remembered Oliver laughing as he would tell the story, time after time, she concluded. "Oliver then would inform us that the 'good news' was that they did play quidditch in Heaven."

"And the bad?"

"He'd pull a sorrowful face and inform us that Myrtle told him that he was the starting keeper for Sunday's game."

Shaking her head, Ginny looked back at the mist rising from the falls one last time and sighed.

"This time, he made his start."


End file.
